Clark directed child rape, court told

Aboriginal leader Geoff Clark watched and instructed a man as he raped a girl of three or four, a court heard yesterday.

The alleged victim of this rape, more than 30 years ago, is Mr Clark's first cousin, Joanne McGuinness, and she also accuses him of raping her when she was 16.

Now 38, Ms McGuinness and Carol Stingel, 48, have launched a civil case against Mr Clark in Melbourne's County Court, both alleging he raped them as teenagers.

In court yesterday, Ms McGuinness said she was three or four when Mr Clark gave instructions as she was raped by Robert "Wordie" Lowe, a member of the Aboriginal community at Framlingham, near Warrnambool.

"I remember Geoff sitting there on the table in our house at my mother and father's home ... he was directing Wordie what to do and what not to do."");document.write("

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Mr Clark's counsel, Robert Richter, QC, asked if this was a fantasy, to which she said "no".

"I'm saying it's not a fantasy at all. It was the truth and I can remember it."

She told the court she was frightened and worried about intimidation if she reported it.

But she had not recalled the attack until her son was born in 1988, the court heard, and she had been too ashamed to discuss it with anyone except her mother many years later.

Ms McGuinness said she had not brought the civil action for money.

"Money is not about what I'm going through," she said. "Money would never fix me up; it would never bring back the life I had before I was raped."

Ms McGuinness alleges Mr Clark raped her on February 14, 1981, when she was 16.

Ms Stingel alleges she was pack-raped by him and six other men in March, 1971. She, too, was 16.

Mr Clark strenuously denies the allegations.

The women are seeking an extension of time under the statute of limitations to enable personal injury claims against Mr Clark to go ahead. They instituted independent civil proceedings against Mr Clark in August last year, seeking unspecified damages for physical injuries and long-term trauma and depression as a result of the alleged rapes.

Under the Limitations of Actions Act (1958), proceedings for personal injuries cannot be brought more than three years after the alleged event.

In court yesterday, Ms McGuinness denied claims that she had instructed her solicitors to bring the proceedings when no offer of compensation was forthcoming from Mr Clark.

She also denied she had advised her solicitors how much money she would accept.

The court heard that Ms McGuinness sought legal advice about the alleged rape from a firm of Warrnambool solicitors in 1987, after allegedly being assaulted by Mr Clark at a local hotel. She said a solicitor told her there was nothing she could do because seven years had passed since the alleged rape, and that a civil claim was not discussed.

"I went to the solicitor's office that day to seek out justice and some closure in my life," she said. "He didn't say anything about suing."

Ms McGuinness said she did not report the alleged assault at the hotel - where she claims Mr Clark dragged her out of the pub by the hair - because she was frightened and had lost faith in the authorities.

She disagreed with Mr Richter's claim that she had withdrawn the rape complaint shortly after the alleged incident was reported to police.

The court heard that it was not until Ms McGuinness spoke to a sexual abuse counsellor in 2000 that she realised what impact the alleged rape had had on her life.

She then made three statements to police, but the matter was dismissed due to lack of evidence after a three-day committal hearing in Warrnambool in November, 2000.